of 2009, as Claudia begins to grow paranoid, she gets into a car accident which leads to her suffering a miscarriage. Michael is believed to be responsible for the accident; to avoid facing what he believes he has done, Michael and Kristina run away to Mexico. Claudia then enlists sociopath, Jerry Jacks (Sebastian Roché) and orders him to track them down and kill them; instead Jerry uses the teens to lure Jason into a trap. Fortunately, Michael realizes that Jerry is holding them prisoner; Michael is very much like Sonny when it comes to recognizing a threat. Kristina doesn't want to believe Jerry is going to hurt them, but because the siblings were brought up differently, they see the situation differently. Michael and Kristina's attempt to live independently and start new lives in Mexico is cut short and they are forced back to Port Charles. However, the adventure leads to Michael's first kiss with a local girl, Marita. By this time, Brown had started speaking out against the direction of her storyline, and her disapproving of Claudia intentionally trying to hurt Michael or Kristina. The complaints were followed by the announcement of Brown's departure in September 2009 with her onscreen exit slated for October. Most fans assumed that once the truth about Claudia's involvement in Michael's shooting was revealed, she would end up dead. An article from The Huffington Post called for just that. Due to Brown's exit coinciding with November Sweeps, it was expected that Brown's exit would have a major impact on the storyline. According to a spokesperson for the series, her exit would be "buzz-worthy." Spoilers also began surfacing with reports that Claudia would be killed off. On the October 1, 2009 episode, Michael confronts Claudia about his memory of her confession; however, she is able to explain her way out of it. Despite the obvious, Michael defends Claudia to everyone that bad-mouths her. But, because Michael is not exactly sure if his memories are accurate, he hesitates to come forward. Michael goes so far as to warn Johnny that Jason and Sonny will soon learn the truth, telling Johnny that he may be the only person who can save Claudia. On October 30, 2009, Regan Cellura of Daytime Confidential posted a spoiler article confirming that Claudia was indeed going to die. On the night of Claudia's birthday party, Jason comes to Sonny with confirmation that Claudia